Your Club's Greatest (and Worst) Moments

[wce4premiership]

At West Coast, best, obviously the three flags (dead heat between '92 and '06) and worst the two GF losses.

Outside the obvious stuff, a few other options.

Best
-Coming from 6 goals down at the final change to win our first ever game in 1987.
- <Demetriou's dopey sounding voice> And with the 3rd pick of the 2001 Draft, the West Coast Eagles select...
-Hunter's pack mark and goal to put us in front against Sydney late in the final term of the '05 QF. Up till that point we'd gone into the finals looking pretty impressive for 3 years running only to have a 3 first round exits- prior to that point, we were staring down the barrel of 4 consecutive finals losses and a serious monkey on our back.
- Consecutive Brownlows to Judd and Cuz.
- 54 pt turnaround against Geelong in '06.
- Scotty Cummings' 14 goals against Adelaide. In fact, just everything related to Scotty Cummings.
- The Bump on dermott brereton at Subiaco.
- Cousins choosing West Coast over Geelong and Fremantle when F/S eligible for all three.
- Judd re-signing at the end of '03.
- The Second Waving of the Jacket.

Worst Moments
- Windy Hill Massacre
- The First Waving of the Jacket
- Jako's knee.
- Worsfold's missing the elim final in his last year.
- Getting screwed out of home finals
- Sumich almost dying in the infamous Bulldog brawl.
- Ron Alexander's sacking, and the bitterness which followed.
- The massive flogging from Port which ended the Judge era. Actually, the entire Judge era, pretty much.

great summary there, pretty much everything summed up.

 

[pazza]

Essendon's worst: The 1970's..pretty poor all around.
Essendon's best: 2000.

 

[emuboy]

Collingwood's best moment was winning the 1990 flag against Essendon, breaking a drought of 32 years.

The worst moment was the thrashing handed out by Brisbane in the 2003 Grand Final. Collingwood paid dearly for their over-confidence and badly selected team.

The most puzzling moment in Magpie history came at the end of the 2000 season when Saverio Rocca was delisted. You would think that Collingwood would have tried to get a draft pick at least, rather than just axing him from the list.

 

[SriLankanCat]

This is for me personally.
Best: Gary Abletts goal after the siren against North Melbourne in 1994 Preliminary Final

Worst: Nick Davis, Nick Davis, Nick Davis...i saw it but i couldnt believe it

 

[pharro]

Best:
[*]Jeff Kennett donning the victory jacket

Really? You even care about that?

 

[pharro]

I'd be far more concerned with your club's ongoing use of the name "Bombers". They are a symbol of man's inhumanity and cowardice.

Are you for real? Inhumanity certainly but cowardice? Do you know the mortality rates of the crews of the Lancaster and Flying Fortress bombers? Those men were not cowards.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

The use of that word was far more common back then and didn't carry anywhere near the same stigma as it does today.

Oh dear... Usually you are a bit smarter than that Chewy! Of course if a word is common there's less stigma to it. Derr!

Do you think though that there was less underlying racism? If everyone says it then it's alright? That it was any less of an offensive term because of its wide use? What exactly are you trying to say here?

I'd be far more concerned with your club's ongoing use of the name "Bombers". They are a symbol of man's inhumanity and cowardice.

LOL are you for real? Can you scrape that barrel any deeper? What a pathological hatred you must have to deny me nominating these examples as a positive thing. For someone who's pretty smart, you can be pretty damn dumb, too.

Oh yeh, sry mate, it was da 2000 GF and da worst waz da Carlton loss. And when my team nearly merged. O no wait, that was your team! etc etc juvenile, worthless pathetic psuedo-tribal point scoring etc etc etc

Yeah, Essendon really showed the world, didn't they? (Tossers...)

the bitterness runs deep in this one hrmmm

 

[EB&W Pieman]

Pies;

Can I add to the best "Eddie becoming President" (Quite serious here - he has made us the most professional club in the competition. His legacy will last for decades.)

And the worst 'The 1970 Grand final' (that one cost us another four or five premierships because it made the Colliewobbles a fact, not just a catchphrase)

 

[doppleganger]

[*]Jeff Kennett donning the victory jacket
[*]Hawk members breaking the "Guinness" world record in 2001 for most people doin' the Y.M.C.A.

gee easily impressed down hawthorn way!!

 

[Hawkk]

[*]Hawk members breaking the "Guinness" world record in 2001 for most people doin' the Y.M.C.A.[/LIST]

...the game wasn't half bad either

 

[juddy_Like]

Best:
Premiership years (92,94,06)
Week leading up to 91 GF (united a whole friggen state).
Drafting Juddy.

Worst:
91 Loss
05 Loss
Juddy does a Hammy
Jako bungs a knee
Judge years.

 

[Andre]

Best moments for me-

2004 GF
Showdown I

Worst

2003 QF v Sydney

Same for me.
Only two showdowns will ever matter (unless we get a GF one) - the first and the latest.

And I've never felt as gutted as after that QF loss. Home final against a side with stars out, players meant to be ready for atoning for the previous years QF loss - no looking ahead as in 2002, yet we start with Stevens in a forward pocket and go downhill from there. I've never before or since been so angry and disgusted with our players.

Thankfully we did atone the following year

 

[Bombs Away]

BEST 2000 all of it

WORST THAT ONE DAY IN OCTOBER 1990. If we had won it would be 49 years since their last flag and supporters couldn't keep saying how good they are..

 

[SimonH]

In recent history, the best are kind of bleeding obvious. I won't bang on about the 2005 QF, the 2005 GF or the 2006 QF (with the 2nd half of the 2006 GF making an honourable mention).

The worst are even more bleeding obvious (and there are more of them). To those who were there, the aftermath of the 1970 1st semi-final (the only final that Bob Skilton ever played) was apparently the absolute lowest point footy-wise-- in its way, more devastating than the 26 losses on the trot and the multiple spoons in the early 90s. Hard to compare that kind of on-field thing with institutional stuff like relocation in the early 80s and threatened extinction in the early 90s.

While nothing tops a flag, obviously, in pure footballing terms I think the best on-field achievements in the modern era were the 1996 PF and 2003 QF.

Time shall not dim the amazing achievements of the 1996 Swans team. This was a side which hadn't made the finals for near a decade, and which had unconvincingly fallen over the line against an 8th-placed opponent in a home final a couple of weeks back. We had a great run in the minor round, but as Swans fans know only too well from 1986/87, the pressure of finals is another thing entirely. Given that we were playing against a finals-hardened and ultra-professional unit, all of the smart money should have been against us. Halfway through the last we were maybe a couple of goals down, the momentum was with Essendon and I thought, 'They've done a great job to get this far; but we're gawwwwwn'. No idea how the players found another gear (the electric atmosphere of the SCG must have helped), but they did. And Essendon didn't for a moment lose focus or run out of legs; Sydney had to earn every point. I reckon only a couple of thousand people out of the whole 40,000 could have heard the final siren; you would have needed an atom bomb to penetrate that din. One of the best 2 or 3 games I've ever seen in person.

The 2003 QF was the classic underdog story, which I wish I could have been at in person. Absolutely nobody rated us. This was going to be a massacre that would make the 2000 GF look like a cliffhanger. Might as well have been 1st against 16th, not 1st against 4th, for all of the chance we were given. And yet, watching the first half, it was like seeing an unrated #10 batsman walk out to the middle and tonk Warney over the boundary for a 6. Everyone naturally thinks, 'Lucky shot; this won't last long.' But then he does it again; and again; and again; and again. Warney's so shaken he can barely grip the ball. Nobody can believe their eyes. The word 'heroic' is probably too easily thrown around in reference to those who merely play footy well for a couple of hours; but Adam Goodes' performance in that game was truly heroic. It was like the dude grew to 8 feet tall, and everyone played better just by being near him. Surely one of the finest individual performances in a big match, in the last 10 years.

Ah... happy days.

 

[Bloods]

In recent history, the best are kind of bleeding obvious. I won't bang on about the 2005 QF, the 2005 GF or the 2006 QF (with the 2nd half of the 2006 GF making an honourable mention).

The worst are even more bleeding obvious (and there are more of them). To those who were there, the aftermath of the 1970 1st semi-final (the only final that Bob Skilton ever played) was apparently the absolute lowest point footy-wise-- in its way, more devastating than the 26 losses on the trot and the multiple spoons in the early 90s. Hard to compare that kind of on-field thing with institutional stuff like relocation in the early 80s and threatened extinction in the early 90s.

While nothing tops a flag, obviously, in pure footballing terms I think the best on-field achievements in the modern era were the 1996 PF and 2003 QF.

Time shall not dim the amazing achievements of the 1996 Swans team. This was a side which hadn't made the finals for near a decade, and which had unconvincingly fallen over the line against an 8th-placed opponent in a home final a couple of weeks back. We had a great run in the minor round, but as Swans fans know only too well from 1986/87, the pressure of finals is another thing entirely. Given that we were playing against a finals-hardened and ultra-professional unit, all of the smart money should have been against us. Halfway through the last we were maybe a couple of goals down, the momentum was with Essendon and I thought, 'They've done a great job to get this far; but we're gawwwwwn'. No idea how the players found another gear (the electric atmosphere of the SCG must have helped), but they did. And Essendon didn't for a moment lose focus or run out of legs; Sydney had to earn every point. I reckon only a couple of thousand people out of the whole 40,000 could have heard the final siren; you would have needed an atom bomb to penetrate that din. One of the best 2 or 3 games I've ever seen in person.

The 2003 QF was the classic underdog story, which I wish I could have been at in person. Absolutely nobody rated us. This was going to be a massacre that would make the 2000 GF look like a cliffhanger. Might as well have been 1st against 16th, not 1st against 4th, for all of the chance we were given. And yet, watching the first half, it was like seeing an unrated #10 batsman walk out to the middle and tonk Warney over the boundary for a 6. Everyone naturally thinks, 'Lucky shot; this won't last long.' But then he does it again; and again; and again; and again. Warney's so shaken he can barely grip the ball. Nobody can believe their eyes. The word 'heroic' is probably too easily thrown around in reference to those who merely play footy well for a couple of hours; but Adam Goodes' performance in that game was truly heroic. It was like the dude grew to 8 feet tall, and everyone played better just by being near him. Surely one of the finest individual performances in a big match, in the last 10 years.

Ah... happy days.

Great post.

The 2003 QF is still the most enjoyable game of footy I've attended (the flag and all of the prelims included)

Walking to the ground from the West Lakes Hotel, copping it from all of the Port supporters and then actually beating them was an unbelievable feeling. The second quarter was incredible, we just kept kicking goals and the Port fans could not believe their eyes. Throughout the game, Port supporters were abusive but not one of them said a thing after the finish! Singing the song with about 20 fellow supporters was genuinely satisfying.

 

[Salopek31]

Best:

2004 GF
Securing AFL license
First showdown
7 showdown wins in a row

Worst:

2001-2003 finals
2005 semi final

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Club

Best moment: The four-successive premierships

Worst moment: Losing 6 grand finals between 1966 and 1981

Me

Best moment: 1990 Grand Final... What more can I say?

Worst moment: The death of Darren Millane, it took a long time for everyone to recover!

You forgot the Carlton wooden spoons

 

[Chewy]

Really? You even care about that?

No.

Are you for real?

No.

Do you think though that there was less underlying racism?
If everyone says it then it's alright? That it was any less of an offensive term because of its wide use?

No, no and no.

What exactly are you trying to say here?

That it can only be considered your club's worst moment from a 2007 perspective. Back then it was hardly an issue. We've interpeted the question differently.

LOL are you for real?

No

Can you scrape that barrel any deeper? What a pathological hatred you must have to deny me nominating these examples as a positive thing. For someone who's pretty smart, you can be pretty damn dumb, too.

Strange reaction considering you care so deeply about social issues and your club's dubious nickname from the past. You trumpet Essendon's race relations as though they are the champions of humanity, yet your club's CURRENT nickname is not a bird, a colour, a wild animal, a powerful force of nature or an historical reference. No, your club is named after a killing machine...

You have to laugh at left-wing hypocrites.

juvenile, worthless pathetic psuedo-tribal point scoring etc etc etc

Nah, buddy. I roll my eyes at the way the Essendon football club thinks they are a cut above everyone else. Maybe you didn't mean it, but your post reflected how much the Bombers (and Magpies) have loved to brag about how much they've done for Aboriginals. Leaders, I think you said. As if none of the other clubs have done anything. Your club is full of shit and so are you.

the bitterness runs deep in this one hrmmm

Nothing to do with bitterness. Just a healthy disdain for your club's PR crap.

 

[UpForGrabs]

Best moments:

(Obviously 1992, 1994 and 2006)

- Defeating Hawthorn (reigning premiers) in our first ever meeting. Princes Park, 1987. Showed the big boys we weren't their bunnies. Chris Mainwaring takes a horsewhip to Dipper the whole day.
- Making the finals in our second year.
- Signing Mick Malthouse
- The 1991 H&A season. Three losses out of 22 rounds by 3, 3 and 10 points.
- Don Pyke getting ironed out by Gary Ablett in the '92 GF. Back on the ground by the end of the quarter.
- "Matera sets sail for home and the Eagles hit the front!"
- A young West Coast Eagles team that has lost four games straight as well as John Worsfold and Glen Jakovich for the entire season with knee reconstructions, wins 11 straight as players such as Cousins, Donnelly and Mitchell White stand up to be counted. Peter Matera gains AA selection from the half-back flank. (I count this as Malthouse's finest year at the WCE)
- WCE v Bulldogs, 1999 Finals Series.
- Making finals in 2002 after everyone had tipped us (maybe rightfully so) for the spoon.
- Chris Judd. 2003. Brisbane. Gabba. 1st Half. 5 goals.
- Sampi mark.
- The 2006 comebacks.
- Kerr & Cousins final quarter goal vs Bulldogs, 2006 Finals series.
- The smother.
- The siren.

Worst moments:

- Murray Wrensted's miss.
- John Todd's selection policies.
- Dwayne Lamb convulsing right in front of me at the WACA vs Geelong.
- Peter Matera nearly leaving us to play with Melbourne, and the alleged dirty tactics involved to get him to stay.
- Knowing that Mick wouldn't be our coach anymore
- Knowing that the club would be dumb enough to sign Ken Judge.
- In fact, anything to do with Ken Judge.
- Leo 'F*cking' Barry and that f*cking mark.
- The serious offences over the past few years (not counting the Cousins drunken offense because it was neither serious nor anything different to what hundreds do every night).

 

[DapperDon]

The use of that word was far more common back then and didn't carry anywhere near the same stigma as it does today. I'd be far more concerned with your club's ongoing use of the name "Bombers". They are a symbol of man's inhumanity and cowardice.

Yeah, Essendon really showed the world, didn't they? (Tossers...)

dude, you really need to get that chip looked at. it's growing bigger each time you post

 

[Dan26]

The lowest moment in Essendon's history came after the 1924 premiership when the club was engulfed in bribery allegations. The club played off against the VFA premier (Footscray) and were defeated, amidst claims of sveral players deliberately playing below their best.

One player (Fitzmaurice) was so disgusted, he left the club.

The club then proceeded to have it's second longest premiership drought (18 years) and missed the finals every year in the 1930's. Whilst the 30's were terrible for on-field performance, the stigma that coems with bribery makes the conclusion (and aftermath) of the '24 season our lowest moment.

The greatest would have to be the 2000 premiership, which gave Essendon a record equalling 16th premiership, achieving the most dominant season in history whilst doing it.

I'd say historically, 2000 was our apex. We have only been on top of the premiership table after 1897 (our first flag), after 1985, (until 1987), and after 1993 (until 1995.) So to be at the top in 2000, setting records whilst doing so, makes it Essendon's greatest moment.

 

[Dan26]

I'm a bit disgusted at people who list Grand Final losses as a club's worst moment.

Think about it. Every finalist (apart from the eventual Grand Final winner) will have their season come to an end with a loss. That doesn't mean it is among the worst moments for your club. The fact they are THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE is a great thing.

For me, the 1999 Preliminary Final loss was terrible, but we still had a great season. The 2006 season was worse because we won 3.5 games are were awful. That is a low point for the club. Losing Preliminary Finals and Grand Finals isn't a low point. If anything it's a high point, with only winning a Grand Final being higher. The only thing better than finishing 2nd is finishing 1st.

Thw lowest points are when your club is at its lowest.

 

[Scruba]

I'm a bit disgusted at people who list Grand Final losses as a club's worst moment.

Think about it. Every finalist (apart from the eventual Grand Final winner) will have their season come to an end with a loss. That doesn't mean it is among the worst moments for your club. The fact they are THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE is a great thing.

For me, the 1999 Preliminary Final loss was terrible, but we still had a great season. The 2006 season was worse because we won 3.5 games are were awful. That is a low point for the club. Losing Preliminary Finals and Grand Finals isn't a low point. If anything it's a high point, with only winning a Grand Final being higher. The only thing better than finishing 2nd is finishing 1st.

Thw lowest points are when your club is at its lowest.

Good post

 

[Whiskers]

I'm a bit disgusted at people who list Grand Final losses as a club's worst moment.

Think about it. Every finalist (apart from the eventual Grand Final winner) will have their season come to an end with a loss. That doesn't mean it is among the worst moments for your club. The fact they are THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE is a great thing.

For me, the 1999 Preliminary Final loss was terrible, but we still had a great season. The 2006 season was worse because we won 3.5 games are were awful. That is a low point for the club. Losing Preliminary Finals and Grand Finals isn't a low point. If anything it's a high point, with only winning a Grand Final being higher. The only thing better than finishing 2nd is finishing 1st.

Thw lowest points are when your club is at its lowest.

You obviously don't support Geelong. I can tell you GF losses are pretty low, i know your not so familiar with it but when your up for a long long time you have got to win sometime or so i thought.

The SF loss to swans was terrible, and i would say 2006 overall was abysmal, and come to think of it that is probably even lower than say the '94 and '95 Gf when u know your gonna lose before qtr time.

You make a good point to some degree but losing GFs continually is low. Again thinking about it there seems to be lots of low points for us. Hmmmm good point......................... well......ummmm..........arghhhh oh ok the '94 finals series. The GF was not played in my dreams.

 

[Asgardian]

Best AFL Moments-

ALL of our flags

Worst AFL Moment-

Someone in the media comparing Port Adelaide to the Crows